Balancing figure wheeled toy



NOV. 22, 1949 p TOMNlE BALANCING FIGURE WHEELED TOY Filed Oct. s, 1947 INVENTOR. TOM N l E PIETERY ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALANCING FIGURE WHEELED TOY Peter Tomnie, Portland, Oreg.

Application October 8, 1947, Serial No. 778,581

1 Claim.

This invention relates to toys and is particularly adapted to imitate a clown walking or running on a wire.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a mechanism imitating a clown or other object, wherein movement to the body and legs of the toy is imparted thereto by the action of the toy running on a wire or string.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire in the form of a loop upon which the toy can operate by the movement of the arm and hand of the operator.

These and other incidental objects will be apparent in the drawings, specification and claim.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side View of my new and improved toy mounted on a section of wire or string.

Figure 2 is a front view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail View taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 illustrates the toy riding on a loop held by the hand of the operator.

In the drawings:

The toy consists of a main body I having leg members 2 and 3 pivotally mounted thereto at 4. The leg member 2 has a lower leg member 5 fixedly mounted thereto by the pins 6 and l. Members 2 and 5 could be made from one piece of material, but are shown in two pieces due to convenience of manufacturing. The leg member 3 has the lower leg member 8 pivotally mounted thereto at 9. The lower leg members 5 and 8 are journalled to the crank shaft Ill. The crank shaft I is fixedly mounted or embedded at II into the grooved wheel I2 and revolves therewith.

The arms I3 are pivotally mounted to the body I at I4 and extend downwardly and are journalled at I to the crank shaft I0. These arms extend down terminating in the ends I6, which have weights Il fixed therein. The body I is supported by the arms I3 through the crank shaft I0 and the grooved wheel I2 on the string or wire I8.

Referring to Figure 2 it will be noted that the ends I8 of the crank ID are slightly off the center line 20 of the grooved wheel I2. This imparts a slight up and down movement to the body of the toy while working along the string or around the circle 2| in Figure 4. The body I receives another type of movement and that is a pendulum action from the pivot point I4. This is accomplished through the leg members 2 and 5 which are interlocked together as above described.

The leg member 5 is journalled at 22 to the crank 23 forming part of the crank shaft II]. This connection causes, as stated above, the body of the toy to pivot about the pivot point I4 giving a most desirable efiect in the movement of the clown. The leg members 3 and 8 are journalled at 24 to the crank throw 25. This causes a movement of the leg members relative to one another and to the body of the clown giving a slightly different effect imitating the running of the clown along the wire, although the action between the leg members 2, 5, 3 and 8 appears to be similar even though the result from each is slightly different. The weights I'I located on the lower end of the arms I3 balance the whole assembly on the wire or string I8.

In the operation of the device, the clown appears to be running, the body member moving up and down and rocking while the leg members represent an action of his legs as if he were running freely along. The up and down movement of the body I is very important as this represents a loping action of the body of the clown.

The Wire or string I8 may be stretched between two points, usually anchored at one end and held by the hand of the operator who raises and lowers the same to provide an incline so that the grooved wheel will run therealong.

Figure 4 represents another type of operating wire or loop, the wire being formed in the shape of a loop and supported by a handle 26 secured to the loop by the spokes 21.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact structure as other mechanical equivalents may be substituted still coming within the scope of my claim.

What I claim is:

A toy including body, and leg members pivotally connected to the body and depending below the same, a grooved wheel mounted for travelling upon a wire support, a crank passing through the grooved wheel and fixed thereto and presenting crank members on opposite sides of the grooved wheel, the legs being formed in pivotally connected sections, the lower terminal of each of said legs being connected to the cranks on the opposite sides of the grooved wheel respectively, and arms pivotally connected to the body above the connection of the legs thereto and depending below the crank and pivotally connected to the respective terminals of the crank, the arms extending below the grooved Wheel and having terminals formed to receive weights, and weights in such terminals of the arms.

PETER TOMNIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 70,850 Humans Nov. 12, 1867 74,308 Colburn Feb. 11, 1868 950,536 Kilman Mar. 1, 1910 

